Space:1999 Space Eagle by Popy Japan

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It's no secret that I love Space:1999 toys although I don't own many these days. An opportunity came up to own an item I have never had an opportunity to hold before, I couldn't pass it up.

This wonderful diecast Space Eagle was made by Japanese toymaker Popy and as we'll explore they've wonderfully left some cultural fingerprints.






First off, this is an awesome package. No pictures of the cast, not even an official logo, just the goods!




I don't know who the gentleman pictured it but I assume he designed the toy because he doesn't look like Martin Landau.



The toy itself takes liberties with the model, such things are done to inject fun and one of the reasons I love toys.



The Canopy on the eagle lifts up just like one of my favourite Eagle toys, the Mattel giant Eagle.


Yes, it has a working winch to pick up a piece that is included, more on that below.




And this being Japan, the Eagle fires missiles. There is no way we'd have gotten these tiny missiles in North America, I love them.




It also comes with these teensy astronauts. I don't know how children, in the age of shag carpeting, wouldn't have lost these in six seconds. I'm in my mid forties and I almost lost them taking these photos!




The fun doesn't end there, the Eagle comes with this piece that you can either pick up with the winch or use to form a new kind of ship.



And just like the Mattel Eagle, you can put the pod and the rockets together, just like they should have done at least once on the series.....




The bay opens and you can stash the impossibly small Alphans inside.



Just for size comparison, here it is alongside the Dinky Space:1999 Eagle.



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[J.B.]

I don't know who the gentleman pictured it but I assume he designed the toy because he doesn't look like Martin Landau.

That is a beautiful piece. Always liked the Popy version and the great packaging. I remember that guy on the box from my days on ToyboxDX. Here's what they have to say about him: Who's that scary-looking bloke on the back of so many Popy toy boxes? That's Susumu Abe, a noted Japanese "educational commentator" from the 1970s. Why's he on the boxes? Nobody seems to remember, and his little aphorisms ("It's not good for children to gloss over things with ease; they need to go over what they've done before to learn") are often jarringly at odds with the tricked-out robots pictured on the packages.

I've never seen a pic of the cockpit with the canopy open. Does the crouching figure fit inside?

[cjefferys]

Nice! You could always count on Popy to make a cool, feature packed Popinica (their line of vehicle toys). Glad you finally got one!